A BLADE IN THE DARK

Anny Papa and Andrea Occhipinti

A BLADE IN THE DARK aka La casa con la scala nel buoi/1983). Director: Lamberto Bava.

Bruno (Andrea Occhipinti) is working on a score for a horror film directed by Sandra (Anny Papa). His friend, Tony (Michele Soavi), lets him stay in a large and beautiful villa that he manages, and Bruno quickly encounters two women, Katia (Valeria Cavalli) and Angela (Fabiola Toledo), both of whom are horribly murdered on the estate. Bruno also has a girlfriend named Julia (Lara Lamberti), about whom he becomes suspicious. Investigating, Bruno discovers that their deaths may have something to do with the picture that Sandra is working on. A Blade in the Dark boasts a highly tense and suspenseful approach, although most viewers will see the ending a mile away. The murder sequences are sadistic and gruesome. The music by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis is very reminiscent-- in fact, downright imitative --  of the scores by Goblin for such Dario Argento films as Deep Red. A Blade in the Dark imitates Argento's films with its half giggling-half crying maniac and the convoluted plotline, but it's not in the same league as that director's work. Nevertheless, Bava, the son of Mario Bava, manages to hold the viewer's attention and keep him riveted during key sequences. In this picture, at least, Bava is clearly influenced by his father, Argento, and even Brian De Palma. Actor Michele Soavi also directed horror films such as Stagefright (1987).

Verdict: Real creepy movie with several very bloody sequences. ***.